Experts forecast that domestic natural gas deposits will make the U.S. energy independent and a net exporter of natural gas in the coming decades. But to achieve this, producers and regulators need a highly accurate, quick and simple means of measuring fugitive emissions to ensure production efficiency and safety. Picarro Surveyor for natural gas emissions radically simplifies the application of sophisticated greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement instrumentation and geo-informatics to display and quantify the flow-rate of natural gas emissions in a real-time graphical format on a mobile tablet or other web-enabled device.

"Picarro Surveyor for natural gas emissionsenables every producer to ensure that they are extracting natural gas from production fields, including fracking sites, in the most efficient, safe and environmentally sound manner," said Michael Woelk , CEO of Picarro. "The economic savings from stopping fugitive losses alone can be enormous, but moreover, producers and regulators now have the means to credibly demonstrate and assure the public that natural gas production is safe and sustainable – or not."

For the first time, natural gas producers can quickly, easily and accurately measure emissions from their gas production sites. Picarro Surveyor for natural gas emissions is a fully integrated instrument and geo-informatics platform that operates within an automobile, while continuously transmitting all data to Picarro's cloud processing platform, P-Cubed®, for real-time browser-based information sharing. Picarro Surveyor shares the same patented Cavity Ring-down Spectroscopy (CRDS) technology with the company's renowned greenhouse gas (GHG) instruments, which are used by the world's top atmospheric research institutions such as NASA, NOAA, LSCE and the Chinese Meteorological Administration.

In addition to its CRDS gas detection technology, Picarro Surveyor is the only solution to continuously integrate wind transport physics into its emission detection analytics to instantly identify gas emission location and report land surveyed with numeric flow-rate values. P-Cubed, which powers its data analysis, mapping, archiving and reporting features, provides real-time graphical visualizations of the surveyed area for simultaneous viewing by numerous users on a mobile tablet or other web-enabled devices. This combined capability results in a radical simplification of extremely complex measurements so that anyone—without any special knowledge or training—can clearly see the location of gas plumes with accurate flow-rate values.

Using Picarro Surveyor, natural gas producers can:

Boost gas field production and revenue—companies can pinpoint and quantify sources of large fugitive emissions, correct leakage problems, and avoid millions of dollars in lost production from existing fields.

Demonstrate site safety and efficiency—generate reports that illustrate the effectiveness of their operations in minimizing emissions to regulators, industry watchdog groups, local communities, and other field stakeholders.

Reduce local and global environmental impact—minimize the environmental impact by providing the critical ongoing measurement data necessary to benchmark field emissions and reduce problem areas over time.

Evaluate new emissions-related technologies, processes and measures—help producers evaluate new technologies and processes to help minimize emissions by providing continuous, ongoing measurements that benchmark historical performance against current performance.

"The accuracy, simplicity and mobility of Surveyor is a testament to the talent and skills of Picarro scientists, engineers and developers," added Woelk. "With Picarro Surveyor, calculations and estimations are replaced with precise direct measurements displayed in a graphical format that anyone can immediately comprehend. Complex measurements in demanding conditions are no longer the sole domain of highly trained scientists and technologists. Instead, Picarro Surveyor brings simplicity and transparency to our nation's critical goal of energy, economic and environmental security."

The introduction of Picarro Surveyor for natural gas emissions follows last year's introduction of Picarro Surveyor™ for natural gas leaks and the evaluation and deployment of the innovative mobile platform by leading gas utilities. For downstream natural gas pipeline leak detection, Picarro Surveyor has been proven to find significantly more leaks in a fraction of the time when compared to traditional gas leak survey processes.

Picarro's mission is to grow an enduring and globally admired enterprise by transforming how, when and where world-class scientific measurements are made, and to enable anyone to make them. The company has been recognized by global and U.S. economic, energy and environmental organizations for its development and deployment of innovative technology. This includes selection to the World Economic Forum's 2012 class of Technology Pioneers, selection as a 2012 Energy Innovation Pioneer by IHS CERA, and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Technology Transfer (STTR) award.

Pricing & Availability

Picarro Surveyor for natural gas emissions will be available in Q2, 2013. For more information on pricing and availability, please visit Picarro's web site or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

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Meet the owner of Southeast Green Beth Bond, but most know her through her Twitter handle @BethSEGreen. Here is a link: www.southeastgreen.com. Southeast Green is based in Decatur and Beth is the Curator of Sustainable News at Southeast Green.